30th of December

Doug and I are now back in Peru. We arrived last night, (actually this morning) and made it to the hotel without incident. For the first time in all the times I've visited Peru, the red light came up when I went through customs. After you pass through immigration, pick up your luggage, and get to customs, you have to push a button. If it comes up green, you pass right through and are on your way. If it comes up red, you have to have your luggage scanned and searched before you can leave. This time we put our luggage through the scanner and were on our way.
We had lunch with Maximo's family today; his wife, Dora and Wilma (Maximo's sisters), Jimmy and Richie (other relations). It was a great time to reconnect although we couldn't stay very long. We were invited back for a New Year's celebration tomorrow.
Our order of business today was to pay some bills and reconnect with friends in Peru. One bill was a health insurance premium. I've been bragging about how simple things are in Peru but this was anything but simple. I went to the bank to transfer the money as is usual to pay bills in Peru. They couldn't complete the transfer as they didn't (and I didn't) have a code they required. After three different tries, I finally went to the office of the insurance agent. They sent me to the insurance company, (fortunately close by) and I was able to pay it there. What a pain; fortunately we only have to pay this once a year. FYI, the premium to cover both of us with high quality insurance internationally was around $5000.00 per year.
We also changed our reservations for going north because our dalmatian won't arrive until after the 4th of January. Her rabies shot had to be administered at least 30 days prior to her transfer. At this point, we hope to meet her on the 4th and head home on the 5th. We're anxious to head home to see the progress on our home.